Ex: What is one truth you believe in that most people disagree with you on?
Rahul: Call a spade a spade. Do straight talk and don’t dance around the point
Ex: One thing you believe is absolutely necessary for sustained growth?
Rahul: There are 2 elements here. A battle hard mindset to gain share from the current market and growing the market itself. Challenging the current assumptions & continuously innovating while keeping customer preferences in mind can help
the latter. We have launched a range of new initiatives during COVID times to help PC customers – these include offering free service to all PC brands, virtual digital demos, launching the PC Pal website to provide brand-agnostic product recommendations for buyers, Lenovo on wheels to take stores to our customer doorstep, to name a few.
Ex: One book you keep coming back to?
Rahul: The art of thinking clearly by Rolf Dobelli. And “ fooled by Randomness” by Nassib Taleb The first one calls out different biases and how to consciously counter them. It has definitely made me more self-aware and conscious as a leader.
The second one is about interpreting data, trends and making correct conclusions
Ex: Leadership quotes that you live by (Can be multiple)
Rahul: -Don’t worry about the things that you can’t influence
– Trust is the oxygen we all need, but it cannot be blind and needs to be earned
-Being too busy in meetings is one of the biggest corporate scams
-You and only you control how u spend time and on what
-“ I don’t know” and “ I made a mistake “ are rare gems in our world
Ex: What has been your biggest learning in the pandemic?
Rahul: – You can never be too prepared for future
– If u have a choice, take a positive view than a negative. We initially thought the PC market may crash but that didn’t happen
– Protecting the mind from disease is much more important than protecting the body
– Your true character comes out when one is put in an unprecedented situation.
Ex: Some productivity apps and technologies you use in your daily life?
Rahul: My Thinkpad. It never let me down in the last 20years. And of course the Moto phone
Ex: What is your technology detox like?
Rahul: In today’s progressive age, one cannot really take a break from technology. I don’t feel the need to do this but wish that I would check my phone less often
Ex: Any plans for introducing a comprehensive gaming chair?
Rahul: No, we don’t have such plans.
Ex: What changes do you see in consumer buying?
Rahul: The pandemic and lockdown have increased the overall adoption of laptops due to work-from-home and learn-from-home needs. Consumers are treating it as an essential device, given the growing need for virtual communication. Indian middle-class families are also beginning to investing in more than one laptop per family, to meet their children’s growing dependency on remote learning methods. While buying laptops or any other product, consumers also continue to follow physical distancing norms and prefer buying everything online. At Lenovo, we keep these consumer preferences in mind, and we have introduced a completely ‘contactless purchase’ model that allows a virtual salesperson’s assistance, online payment, and zero-contact home delivery of the device.